Caught (2017) Review

Caught is a taut British thriller / gore movie that brings us into the home of two married, investigative journalists. They have been researching some strange military activity on the moors near their British home, which attracted the attention of two MIB (Men In Black) types, ironically wearing white. The two visitors, Mr. and Mrs. Blair, are more of the folklore of ufologists than the more commonly known Will Smith-Tommy Lee Jones characters. They are very interested in what the couple has seen, or “caught”, in their photographs and state that they will not leave without these pieces of evidence. They also keep asking when their son will be home from school without much explanation.

The first fifteen minutes or so is a nice, slow-burn setup for an obvious home invasion movie . You could call it a survival thriller, or sci-fi horror gorefest, or home invasion, but it doesn't really pick a side. However, we know something is wrong when the most dynamic and frightening character, Mrs. Blair, starts dripping purple goo from her mouth uncontrollably. It flips the switch on her character being the absolute sci-fi monster of the film, and the few violent scenes there are really make you squirm.

April Pearson deserves some kind of award for her nearly wordless, but not silent performance. She lets the audience know with her eyes and grunts that this skin-suit is barely containing some other life-form that is dying to tear you apart, but cannot until she gets these irritating photographs from the couple. Who is also a bit irritating, I must say. There is a noticeable sensibility, a very British one, that if you stomp your feet and yell the 'F' word at anything (monster or humanoid) loud enough, they will let you go. The 'how dare you' mentality comes through and not in a good way. We are British and will scream F-yourself without even trying to get our family out of a dangerous situation. Not even fighting, just indignant swearing at a monster. The husband is so furious that these 'psychopaths' won't leave their house, that he doesn't realize the premise of the story until halfway through.

Caught is the kind of movie to put on where you know the premise is simple and will probably transpire mostly how you think it will, then you psychically dare it to show you something freaky...and then you're sorry you just did that. But by the end credits you'll realize that you just watched a refreshing, one location film that shows all the greatness of B-movie horror . You kind of know what you're gonna get, until you have no idea what you're gonna get. Then it gets really scary.

Worth Watching?